Somehow, it seems we’re already approaching midsummer - 21 June – the shortest night of the year - and soon the nights will be drawing in again.
Wednesday night, I got home from work around 7pm, got my kids into bed, and an hour later I was out in the garden, bathing in warm, golden sunlight. I have an obscenely comfortable new (ex-display) garden recliner, and 9pm saw me stretched out most contentedly, glass of wine in hand, face to the sky.
Thus I was able to watch my beloved swifts screaming and wheeling, slipping and out of my attic under the roof tiles, and snapping at unseen midges just metres above my face - all against a backdrop of deepening blue, laced with hazy trails of cirrus. One of them even alighted on my daughter’s bedroom windowsill for a moment or two. She was sleeping soundly inside, just two feet away.
It was still light after 10pm, and the moment of dusk was marked by our network of solar-powered fairy lights flickering into life, one after the other, in foliage and fences around the garden, as the twittering of little birds gradually faded into sleep. It was a magical time of day to experience nature. And Midsummer night, itself steeped in the sort of ancient magic and folklore that runs from Stonehenge to Shakespeare, is sure to boost the feeling.
June 21 is next Wednesday (a school night), so families may wish to defer the high-jinks to the weekend… but the forecast’s looking pretty good, so here are four ways to stay out late and celebrate a wild midsummer!
Light a bonfire
Stay out late and toast marshmallows! Photo: Nick Cunard (rspb-images.com)
Sitting around a bonfire has been a Midsummer must-do since at least the 13th century, when villagers and communities united with bonfires, feasts and merrymaking to mark the longest day. In our back garden we have both a portable fire-pit (perfect for camping, and evenings on the patio) and a stone-ringed bonfire further down (handy for garden clippings). So join us and grab a mug of cocoa / cold beer, any musical instruments you have, and a pack of marshmallows to toast, and relax to watch the sun go down. Look around for swifts or house martins, which glide through suburban air late into the evening… and keep an eye out for bats as the darkness grows! You’ll be surprised where they turn up.
Another word of caution: always check your wood-pile for any snoozing creatures before you burn it!
See the stars
A dark midsummer sky is predicted; potentially great for stargazing. Photo: Nick Cunard (rspb-images.com)
If blessed with a cloudless night, plonk yourselves down on a rug as the light fades, and see who can spot the first star appear.
There’ll be almost no moon this midsummer’s eve - it’ll be a thin, waning crescent that does’t rise over the horizon until just after 3am. Which leaves plenty of dark sky to investigate; from nearby satellites to distant galaxies. Look out for Jupiter, Saturn, Venus – and maybe even a glimpse of Mercury around the western horizon, and apparently there’ll be a small comet hurtling across Virgo. Dig out those binoculars and download a stargazing app to show you what you’re looking at.
Pack an evening picnic
Barn owls... just awwww! Look out for nocturnal wildlife starting to stir. Photo: John Markham (rspb-images.com)
Get beyond your neighbourhood and head out to find a natural beauty spot where you can spread a rug, crack open a hamper and toast the end of the longest day. You can spread out a magical picnic dinner and still have some light to head home by.
Look out for wildlife changing shift - it’s a great time to look out for rabbits or hares, otters, deer, foxes and badgers. Moths and other night-fliers come out, and the bats that predate them. Birds, too: owls will rouse themselves to glide silently out of their family homes, quartering the meadows for breakfast. Nightingales, warblers and cuckoos may be heard singing into the night - in fact, I recently heard some very loud, nearby cuckoo-ing at 3am!
Watch the plants
Wildflowers at sunset. Photo: Colin Wilkinson (rspb-images.com)
Some interesting things happen with wildflowers, too. Honeysuckle takes nightfall as a cue to send its sweet scent out from the hedgerows and across the airwaves to attract moths. At the same time, look out for other plants going to sleep… little daisies will draw up their petals and hide until daybreak, and tender clover leaves close against the night.
It’s also a great time of year to look for orchids - there are some splendid pyramidal orchids blooming amid the long grass along the shortcut to my local park. The elderflowers are out this month, too - I sometimes bottle their very distinctive scent in the form of cordial, though it tends to get drunk pretty quickly! Very nice in a G&T, too... Which could well be my tipple of choice when I resume my comfy spot on the patio on midsummer's eve.
I'm sure there are dozens of other ways to celebrate midsummer and its natural spectacles. Tell us all about them! And have a lovely solstice.